Judge Orders Second Haverhill Man, Accused in Connection with Murder, Held Without Bail

File photograph. (Image licensed by Ingram Image.)

A Haverhill man, accused of being an accessory after the fact in the Nov. 21 murder of a 26-year-old, was ordered held without bail Friday.

Twenty-four-year-old Devaughn Johnson was arraigned Friday before Judge Cesar A. Archilla in Haverhill District Court. Johnson was arrested Wednesday night by Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section, Essex State Police Detective Unit and Haverhill Police. He is charged with being an accessory after the fact in connection with the murder of 26-year-old Jose F. Vasquez Jr. at a Mount Washington home.

Johnson is to appear in court again Dec. 29 by video. He was assigned a public defender, attorney John Morris.

Sources say Vasquez was a rising star within a local gang and was murdered to prevent him from taking charge after the former leader was jailed. The information could not be confirmed since details about the case, including police reports, were impounded at the request of Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett’s office.

David Trongeau, who turns 20 next Friday, was charged with stabbing Vazquez to death. He was also ordered held without bail this past Tuesday by Judge Archilla. If he is not indicted first by an Essex County Grand Jury on the murder charge, Trongeau also returns to district court via online video Tuesday, Dec. 29.

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